


Flow Morphia, Slow

by sugarfr0g



Category: HLVRAI - Fandom, Half Life VR but the AI is sentient
Genre: Additional Tags Listed Before Chapters, Angst, Coomer is a botanist, Depiction of Bubby Prototypes, Depiction of Experiments Done On Bubby, Drug Use, Falling In Love, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Oh the original female character is the head scientist on bubbys project, Tube Shenanigans, Weird Scientist, Young Bubby and Coomer, fuck yeah plant peepaw, tommy: my god these bitches gay! good for them!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-05
Updated: 2020-07-06
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:08:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25096615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sugarfr0g/pseuds/sugarfr0g
Summary: Black Mesa’s 782nd prototype of “The Perfect Scientist” is coming along swimmingly. With the help of renowned botanist Harold Coomer, the project is finally ramping up and producing results.But it quickly becomes apparent to Coomer than the man in the green tube isn’t just a test subject- he’s a person. A real person. This complicates things.
Relationships: Bubby/Dr. Coomer (Half-Life)
Comments: 18
Kudos: 88





	1. Not What You’d Call A Glamorous Man

**Author's Note:**

> hey! welcome to my first multichapter fic that i actually have an outline for! welcome! grab a snack!
> 
> all things go well, i’m hoping to update this once a week. maybe more?
> 
> additional warnings for this chapter: a character is sedated with an unspecified drug.

Harold Coomer had seen some odd stuff at Black Mesa. And no, not just the regular odd like soda can sculptures and alien petting zoos. Some really odd stuff that had him signing non discretion papers and standing in dark observation rooms as experiments took place on the other side of bulletproof glass.

But this had to he one of the oddest. and the most fascinating.

It was called Operation Prometheus, and by the time Coomer was made aware of its existence, it had been running for nearly three years. Coomer did wonder how such an important experiment could run for so long with so few people knowing, buy secrecy was a commodity in Black Mesa. 

More importantly, Coomer wondered why he was being brought onto the project. Most of his work was with botany, so how could he be of use? 

He was so caught up in his curious thoughts that he hadn’t noticed Dr. Stelly was talking.  
Oops. Better tune in, no time like the present!

“-was saying, I’m sure your plant expertise will help us out of this pinch, right Dr. Coomer?”

Coomer nodded enthusiastically. The younger scientist sighed in relief, looking at the rest of the group that was sitting in the transit train. Apparently the project took place in a whole different sector than Coomer was used to working in. Stelly, the lead on the project, had been talking Coomer’s ear off for the past week, babbling on and on about how they were ‘so close to a breakthrough, and with your guidance I’m sure we can develop that last serum’. Stelly had a habit of talking a lot without really saying anything too important. That would be why Coomer knew next to nothing about the actual experiment even with listening to her chatter. Not to say he minded listening- he had a soft spot for the younger scientists here (especially that brilliant young hire in the Immortality Department) and had a vested interest in assisting them in anyway possible. Still, though, he really wanted to know what Prometheus was.

The train halted with a sudden jerk. It seemed they found their destination.

“Well,” Dr. Stelly chirped, standing up and regaining her bearings. “This is where Dr. Coomer and I get off. I look forward to seeing you all when we enter the next phase of the experiment!”

The other scientists muttered in affirmation, and the train took off. Stelly seemed to deflate as soon as it was out of sight.

“I hate small talk, don’t you? Rather just show them the results. But I guess that’s what I’m showing you, right?”

“I love small talk!” Coomer said. “But I am excited to finally see these results you keep talking about!”

Stelly led Coomer down a set of winding halls. He was sure he’d never been in this part of Black Mesa- not enough to stick in his mind, anyways. The deeper they got into the department, the more Coomer felt himself shiver.

“Sorry,” Stelly said as she pressed her face to an optic scanner. “We have to keep the surrounding area 10° Celsius to accommodate for the specimen.”

“Not a problem, Dr. Stelly! I can handle a little bit of a cold.”

The specimen, Coomer thought. That’s the most revealing thing he’d heard all week.

The pair finally arrived in the actual room where the experiment was taking place. “Now,” Stelly said, fiddling with her lanyard. “I need you to be cool about this, okay? I can explain everything, I just need you to be cool. Can you do that?”

“I’m already cool!” Coomer quipped, hugging the lab coat around himself.

Stelly made a sour face. But she led him further into the room and over to a tall green tube. Coomer squinted, trying to make out what was inside.

And then he noticed a pair of eyes staring at him.

Eyes, bright blue, framed by stark white hair and sharp cheekbones. There was a person in there.

The other man suddenly pulled back and slammed his fist into the glass, causing Stelly to gasp and check the tube for perforations. He was about to pull back and throw another punch against the tube wall when she pressed a button on the control board, sending a clear pink liquid into an IV that ran down his arm. The other man went limp, eyes still staring deep into Coomer’s own.

“So sorry!” Stelly babbled. “It’s a little temperamental.”

Coomer made a mental note to address her calling the other one “it”, but first, he pulled back and slammed his fist into the glass.

“What are you doing?” Stelly gasped.

“Cultural exchange, my dear!”

Stelly did not look like she believed in whatever that was, but the other man’s eyes had softened from stark anger to confused curiosity. Coomer did not have a degree in psychology, but he had a feeling that showing the man that they were equals in any way was a good form of greeting. And the best equalship he knew was the way he became equals with an opponent in the ring.

“Well, don’t do it again please. It already messes with the glass enough. The structural integrity of that tube must be laughable. Anyways, do you actually want to know about the subject, or do you just want to stare at him?”

Oh, yes, he did want to know. Coomer turned his attention to Stelly expectantly. 

“This is Prometheus, prototype 782,” she said tiredly. “The Administrator put us on this a while back. They have us making ‘the perfect scientist’ as it were, completely from scratch. This,” she motioned to the tube. “Is the farthest we’ve gotten thus far.”

“You mean to say there’s 781 other prototypes running around?”

“Not running around. They’re in containment,” she snorted. She noticed Coomer did not join her. “Um, anyways, yeah. The reason we’re bringing you onto the team is because we really, really can’t mess this up this late into the experiment. We saw your hypothesis that a plant serum made from the... the...”

“Velox Denuonium,” Coomer supplied.

“-The Velox Denuonium will speed up development tenfold. And we need results, ASAP. Do you think you can help us, Doctor Coomer?”

Coomer looked back at the tube, where the man seemed to have regained mobility in his extremities. It was true that the Velox Denuonium’s serum encouraged growth in natural structures, and he did suspect it would do wonders in establishing an immune system, but he was worried about testing it on a subject that seemed so human. Then again, it would not only be helping science but also the prototype. Coomer made eye contact with the man, and he flipped him off.

“Of course, Stelly! This experiment will come to fruition in no time!”

Stelly sighed in relief, a soft smile growing on her face. “You have no idea how much that means, sir. I’ll talk to HR about getting you stationed down here. You can meet the rest of the team tomorrow, and we can start making real progress again.”

Stelly began babbling about nothing again, as she so often did, and Coomer let his eyes travel to the test subject again. Stelly’s referring to the man as an it still didn’t sit well with him.

Ah, no matter. There was plenty to learn, and progress to be made. Coomer’s sure he can get Stelly to call him he in no time.

“You coming?” the younger woman called, holding open the door to the hall.

“Ah! Yes, of course.” 

And as Coomer was walking out the door, he smiled at the test subject.

He swears he saw the other man tilt his head.


	2. Got It Made In The Shade

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Coomer gets to know the man in the green tube.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No trigger warnings for this chapter! Enjoy!

The department transfer comes within the week- a shiny blue clearance card that lets him take the rail system by himself. There's a certain giddiness to being allowed deeper into Black Mesa, though Coomer is aware that there's a dozen more departments he'll never know of, much less see. The only ones he's truly familiar with are botany and cybernetics, and now... whatever this department would be.

Coomer spends most of his time before the official change studying the Velox Denuonium. He feels a sense of pride surrounding the plant- it was him, after all, who discovered it. He missed the company shuttle once and found himself walking along the New Mexican road late at night. And then, out of nowhere, a deep blue bioluminescent plant at his feet. Better than the actual discovery had been learning of it's properties. When administered to two-week-old lab mice, the immune system and respiratory system seemed to grow alarmingly fast. Velox truly was his pride and joy, and he couldn't wait to show it off to the world.

However, as much as he loved the little plant, it did prove to be finicky. Lab mice were one thing, and humans- well, artificial humans- were a whole new thing. He'd need a much larger dose of the plant, and that required either breeding the samples he had or looking for more.

Coomer wasn't worried. He'd worked with more difficult specimens. However, working in a new environment made things more than difficult, especially with Stelly over his shoulder every twenty minutes. The first sample of peace came over the PA system, two weeks into his new assignment.

DIANA. STELLY. YOU. ARE. NEEDED. IN. SECTOR. 28B.

Stelly blanched at the sound of her name. The two of them had been sitting in the Tube Room, as Coomer had started calling it. Diana bit her lip and began packing her things. 

"I have a feeling this is going to take a while. Can you monitor the test subject? I gave it 20mg of that.. ehm.. oh! That corticosteroid, right over there.I just want to make sure that it doesn't react negatively."

Well, Coomer had been focusing on his Velox, but he didn't mind taking a short quasi-break. "Of course! Good luck with whatever it is you're being scolded for!"

Stelly made an unpleasant noise in the back of her throat, but smiled. She was out the door in seconds, leaving Coomer alone. Well, not quite.

The room was eerily quiet, save for the sound of monitors beeping softly and the tube regulating itself. Inside, the test subject seemed to be asleep, eyes screwed shut and arms wrapped around himself. Well, Coomer mused, if he's taking a nap I suppose it wouldn't hurt to get some work done. He slid his rolling desk in front of the tube and got back to work.

Usually, there would be a gaggle of other scientists watching over the test subject with him and Stelly. But it was late, and everyone else had already left for the night. Stelly asked Coomer to stay, admitting that she didn't want to be alone while she ran the latest steroid trial, on the promise that she'd give him a ride to the next bus station. Coomer had happily obliged. Anyways, it would be easier to get work done without the constant chatter of the new hires.

Coomer snapped back into work mode, as it were, and directed his attention to the vile of Velox leaves in front of him. With careful precision, he took a pair of tweezers and pulled a leaf out. Minding his hand so that it didn't shake, he lifted the leaf and dropped it into a beaker of hydrogen peroxide. The liquid began to bubble, then turn a bright pink, then even out. Fascinating, he thought, reaching for his clipboard.

As his eyes traveled from the beaker to his notes, he swore he could feel a pair of eyes on him. He ventured to look up at the tube, where the test subject was very much not asleep.

The subject was tense, coiled into an almost fetal position. His hands were pressed to the glass- not in the angry way they were when Coomer first saw him, but more like a child standing at a tank in an aquarium. Though, in this situation, Coomer supposed that he was the child and the subject was the fish. His bright white hair curled around his head, almost like a halo. 

There was a tense moment where he and the subject made eye contact. It couldn't have been more than half a second, but it felt like an eternity. The subject jerked back towards the back of the glass.

"Oh! Did I frighten you?" Coomer asked. It was more for himself, as he was sure the subject couldn't hear, much less underst-

The subject nodded. 

"... You can hear me?"

The subject make an 'eh' sign with his hand. Coomer made a note to enunciate better.

"I'm sorry," he began, walking over to the tube. "I didn't know you were awake. How do you know what I'm saying?"

The subject motioned to a tube that went from the base of his skull to a computer on the other side of the room. When Coomer was close enough to see the screen, he made out the Wikipedia homepage. 

"Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia that anyone can edit," Coomer mused. Well, that explained how the subject could understand him, and how they planned to teach "the perfect scientist" everything he needed to know for a doctorate. "How fascinating! I surely thought that you wouldn't be given full sentience until after they released you from the tube." 

The subject made a face that Coomer read as, _duh, I'm a genius._

"You truly are a wonder of science, t..." Huh. Did the test subject even have a name? Couldn't hurt to ask. "Do you have a name?" 

The subject stared at him for a second, and then began to laugh. This action revealed a couple of things. 

\- The subject had a sense of humor. 

\- The subject did not, in fact, have a name. 

\- The subject was lacking in common sense, because even though oxygen was being pumped into him by one of the dozens of tubes connecting to his body, the action of laughing drew a bunch of the green liquid into his lungs, causing him to wheeze and sputter. 

Coomer panicked, of course. He rushed back over to the tube and pressed his hands to it, trying to think of some way to keep the subject from choking and dying. But after a moment he cleared the liquid from his underdeveloped lungs and settled on shaking his head. 

"Well, I'm sure we could find you one if you wanted one. But how about a nickname? At least for now. I've been calling you 'test subject' in my head, and it feels dehumanizing." 

The subject made an odd face at that last bit, but ultimately nodded. But what to call him" 

Weiss, for his hair? No, that didn't work. Frank seemed a bit on the nose. As did Einstein. Coomer's eyes caught on a string of numbers plastered to the top of the tube- a serial code, it seemed. But, when he sounded it out phonetically... 

"Bubby!" Coomer decided. "How does Bubby sound?" 

The subject raised his eyebrows, but gave him a thumbs up. 

"Well, Bubby, I'm Harold," he introduced. 

The two stood in silence for a moment, just observing each other. Then Coomer remembered that he _did_ have work to do. 

"You're welcome to observe the experiment," he said as he sat back down. "Now that I know you're watching, I'll try not to startle you." 

Bubby seemed content with this, placing his hands on the glass and squinting down at the row of test tubes. 

It was another hour before Stelly returned, looking frazzled and just a little bit angry. She didn't bother to ask about the steroids, but Coomer figured that they must've gone fine since Bubby hadn't shown an adverse reaction. Coomer checked the clock- 1:06 AM. Heavens, it was late. 

As Coomer and Stelly locked up, he couldn't help but feel a pinch of guilt at leaving Bubby alone. Now that he knew the other man was more than just a husk with a brain, it felt even more unethical to leave him alone in the dark. But the door shut behind him, and Coomer was on his way home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> notes, as per  
> \- the next chapter is gonna err on the longer side, so enjoy this quick snippet!  
> \- i thought it'd be cute if bubby never chose a real name and stuck to the nickname coomer gave him. because he's a sap.  
> \- say hi on tumblr- coomersexwife  
> \- fan art and headcanons are more than appreciated!  
> \- pleeeeeease leave a comment!

**Author's Note:**

> notes:  
> \- the title of this fic is from rocky horror. expect at least a couple dozen references.  
> \- stelly’s name comes from one of the lockers in the locker room.  
> \- come say hi on tumblr- @coomersexwife  
> \- like it? hate it? curious about it? leave a comment, i read them all and it encourages me to keep writing!


End file.
